THOMAS BOYD

Real Name: Thomas Fitzpatrick Boyd

Identity/Class: Extra-dimensional (New Universe) human, paranormal

Occupation: Mercenary; former U.S. Army private, CIA operative, student

Legal Status: Citizen of the United States with a criminal record for desertion

Group Membership: Medusa Web, Psi-Force; formerly CIA, Paranormal Platoon

Affiliations: Crasniye Solleetsi, Justice (John Tensen), Dave Landers, Psi-Hawk, Colby Shaw, Lincoln Stryker, Tina
formerly, Derek Shiningstar

Enemies: Richie Anderson, Bazooka, Colonel McIntyre Browning, CIA, Seth Cleveland, Foundations Inc., Gridlock, Nightmask, Pit Bull, Potiphar, Rodstvow, Derek Shiningstar, the Siberian Project, Serge Vladimiroff, Jeff Walters

Known Relatives: Henry Boyd II (father), Jane Boyd (mother), Henry "Trip" Boyd III (brother), Allysa (sister, deceased)

Aliases: Psi-Stalker, Syphon, Stalker

Base of Operations: Mobile
formerly Sanctuary, San Francisco, California

Place of Birth: Port Harwich, Massachussetts (August 27, 1969)

Extent of Education: Completed junior year at Miles Standish Prep School

Religion: Protestant (non-practicing)

First Appearance: Psi-Force#5 (March, 1987)

Powers/Abilities: Boy possesses the psionic ability to trigger a biochemical adrenal draining of a living organism. Boyd can do this by secreting an enzyme from his pores which enters the target organism. This enzyme is then psionically activated by Boyd. The enzyme stimulates the target organism's entire range of biological and neurological responses which in essence, drains them of their energy. In turn, Boyd's own system is similarly activated. His body is capable of channeling the adrenal rush and therefore, he is physically energized as the target organism is drained. The limits of his powers are not known, but he has learned to conduct the enzyme through objects he is in touch with to his intended victims.

When assembled with the other members of Psi-Force, Boyd can summon the Psi-Hawk.

Boyd is a skilled martial artist, and is also trained in firearms.

Height: 6'1" Weight: 175 lbs. Eyes: Blue Hair: Red

History: (Psi-Force#22 (fb) - BTS) - Thomas Boyd was born to a wealthy family with a proud military tradition. Growing up, Thomas was made to feel insignificant next to his older brother's achivements in the military. He was also haunted by the death of his sister Allysa, and was disappointed in his father for having an affair with their maid, and in his mother for her drinking problem and refusal to accept responsibility.

(Psi-Force Annual#1 (fb)) <7/23/86> - Boyd attended boarding schools from the first grade onwards. While at Miles Standish Prep School, he displayed an exceptional talent for ESP. When the White Event occurred, Boyd was briefly paralyzed. The next day he was bullying a lower classman and suddenly leeched energy from him. Boyd was frightened and ran away from school. He came to the attention of CIA agent Emmett Proudhawk, who was gathering psychic teenagers together into a group he called "Psi-Force." He codenamed Boyd "Syphon," but his partner Derek Shiningstar was working against him, and had it arranged to make Proudhawk think Boyd was dead. Shiningstar then recruited Boyd for himself, convincing him that the other teens Proudhawk was after were his enemies.

(Psi-Force#5) <11/9-15/86> - Shiningstar gave Boyd the codename "Stalker" and sent him to capture the five members of Psi-Force. Boyd went to the Sanctuary runaway home where Psi-Force lived, posing as a runaway himself. He befriended Michael Crawley and Tyrone Jessup, then used his power to steal enough energy from them to make them pass out. Next he managed to get the drop on Wayne Tucker and Kathy Ling, but when he tried to use his powers on Anastasia Inyushin, she turned out to be immune to his powers because hers provided healing; the two were locked in a circuit, and Anastasia ultimately won, knocking him out. Tucker and Ling tied up Boyd while they retrieved Crawley and Jessup, but when they returned he was gone.

(Psi-Force#8 (fb)) - Boyd returned to Shiningstar, who helped him recover from the experience and retrained him to increase his control over his powers.

(Psi-Force#8) - Boyd ambused Psi-Force as they were touring the Alcatraz prison. They summoned the Psi-Hawk to help fight him, but when Boyd realized he could absorb the Psi-Hawk's energies, he drained on it until it vanished, and all five teens were knocked out. He drained enough energy to keep Tucker, Ling and Crawley unconscious while he waited for Shiningstar's men to pick them up. As he waited, Anastasia and Tyrone tried to reason with him, but he considered them both brainwashed by Proudhawk. When the CIA men came with guns to kill the teens Boyd realized he had been lied to, and turned on them. He formed the Psi-Hawk with Jessup and Inyushin to drive them off. Boyd realized that he wasn't safe with Shiningstar, but didn't feel safe with them either, and left.

(Psi-Force Annual#1) - Boyd was still pursued by the CIA, and sent a letter to Sanctuary to ask for Psi-Force's help. They looked into his background in Emmett Proudhawk's files, and he met up with them with the CIA hot on his trail. They aided Boyd against the CIA, and the six of them formed the Psi-Hawk to battle the agents, but the Psi-Hawk exhibited wild behavior, and turned on them when they tried to calm it down. Crawley realized that the Psi-Hawk could only merge five minds, and had Wayne knock him out so that the Psi-Hawk would vanish. Boyd let Anastasia heal his wounds, now trusting her, and Wayne probed his mind to learn who his employer was, but Boyd didn't know Shiningstar's true identity. Crawley decided that Boyd needed the others and that he could manage all right on his own, and left the group so that they would be able to function.

(Psi-Force#13) - Anastasia was visited by Grigori Mironenko, an old family friend, who asked her to come to the Russian Consulate to help heal his wife, but it was actually a ploy by Vladimiroff to recapture Anastasia. The other members of Psi-Force broke into the grounds and brought in the State Department. Ultimately when Mironenko realized that Vladimiroff had infected his wife just to capture Anastasia, he let Anastasia off of the consulate grounds.

(Psi-Force#14) - While Tyrone was in astral form searching for Crawley, his body was stolen by Seth Cleveland, who demanded that Jessup spy on a meeting and report on it to him in order to get his body back. While the rest of Psi-Force tried to learn Cleveland's identity, Jessup attended the meeting and learned that Cleveland was after a truck containing nerve gas, and needed to know what route it was taking. Unwilling to share the information, they tried to find Cleveland first, but Boyd felt that they wanted to get Crawley back and get rid of him, and so took over the situation by finding Cleveland's family and holding a gun on them to make Cleveland turn Jessup's body over. Jessup was furious when he got his body back, because he thought Boyd had crossed the line, and Boyd was left more outcast from the others than he had been before.

(Psi-Force#16) - Psi-Force allowed themselves to be studied by the scientists of Foundations Inc., but when Tyrone learned that they intended to operate on them, Wayne used his telepathy and learned they intended to abuse their powers, and they escaped from the facility, with Wayne erasing the memories of the head, Dr. Emilio Licciardo.

(Psi-Force#17) <10/19/87-11/25/87> - While shopping for a present on Wayne's birthday, Boyd, Ling and Inyushin encountered Troublemaker, a paranormal working for the Medusa Web mercenary organization. Troublemaker managed to outfight Boyd and escape. Later, he contacted them and set up a meeting at Golden Gate Park, but this time Ling managed to hold him with her telekinesis and Boyd beat him until he gave the location of the Medusa Web's cameras. Psi-Force destroyed the camera's films, unaware that Medusa Web member Imprint had recorded everything with his powers. When Inyushin healed Boyd's injuries outside of Sanctuary, they were drawn to each other, and kissed. Suddenly, the Russian paranormal Rodstvow unleashed a blast of energy that destroyed Sanctuary.

(Psi-Force#20 (fb)) <11/25/87> - Boyd ran into the flames and returned with Kathy, who Anastasia healed. Uncertain of where Wayne was and thinking Jessup dead, they ran from Rodstvow.

(Psi-Force#19) <1/2-5/88> - Kathy, Anastasia and Boyd were followed to San Diego by the mercenary outfit the Medusa Web, and fought them in the halls of the Horton Plaza. Boyd went toe-to-toe with Troublemaker and Skybreaker, but was finally forced to stand down when confronted by nearly two dozen armed police officers. He was taken into custody by the CIA, who intended to turn him over to the military.

(Psi-Force#22) - Thomas was brought to Fort Benning where he was psychoanalyzed by Keith Remsen using his other persona of Nightmask. Remsen claimed that Ling and Inyushin had both been killed because of him. Through analyzing his dreams, Boyd's family problems came to light, and Boyd ultimately came to terms with his fear of failure.

(DP7#23/Psi-Force#23) <4/4/88> - At Fort Benning, a soldier named Richie Anderson tried to befriend Boyd, but he shrugged him off. Boyd used his powers in exhibitions against Jeff Walters and the Pit Bull. When Jessup, Tucker and Lindsey Falmon broke into the camp to break him out, they had to fight their way past Jeff Walters, Gridlock, Bazooka and the Pit Bull. Richie Anderson also turned on Boyd, shooting him in the leg. Dave Landers helped the four escape the base.

(Psi-Force#24) <4/5/88> - Boyd, Falmon, Jessup and Tucker broke Ling and Inyushin out of the hospital and decided that their next mission should be to confront the CIA directly and settle matters with them. They entered CIA Headquarters, but found the halls littered with bodies of victims of Rodstvow. Some nervous soldiers shot at them, and everyone except Jessup was wounded. Jessup defeated the soldiers, and Anastasia ignored her own injuries to heal everyone else. With her dying breath, she saved Boyd's life, then died in his arms. When Rodstvow himself appeared, they used Emmett's medallion to create the Psi-Hawk, placing their own bodies into comas.

(Psi-Force#25) <4/5/88> - The Psi-Hawk fought Rodstvow through Washington, D.C., and they even turned the Washington Monument into a weapon to hit Rodstvow with. They tried to destroy Rodstvow but he proved more powerful than they expected, and the Psi-Hawk was destroyed.

(Psi-Force#27 - text) <4/5/88> - Rodstvow teleported Boyd, Ling, Tucker and Falmon's unconscious bodies to the Siberian Project. Boyd regained consciousness on August 8, 1988 when he leeched energy from two doctors and a nurse.

(Psi-Force#27) <9/4/88> - Boyd encountered Dehman Doosha, an autistic paranormal child at the Siberian Project, and when he learned that the staff were going to give him a lobotomy, he took over the central computer room and threatened to destroy all of their files unless Dehman Doosha was released to his custody. They agreed, and Boyd named Dehman Doosha "Johnny Do."

(Psi-Force#28) <10/3/88> - Boyd began to try and teach Johnny how to read, but couldn't get a response from him. Frustrated, he started to break down, but when Johnny put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, he was encouraged to continue.

(Psi-Force#29) <10/5/88> - The Medusa Web and Justice came to break out Tucker, Boyd, Falmon and Ling. With Dehman Doosha, they began to escape in a helicopter.

(Justice#29) <10/5/88> - What remained of Crasniye Solleetsi pursued them and downed their helicopter. Boyd helped Justice against Shivowtnoeh, and they managed to hold their own, until Rodstvow arrived.

(Psi-Force#30) <10/5/88> - Psi-Force, Justice, the Medusa Web and Crasniye Solleetsi joined forces against Rodstvow, under the direction of Wayne, and managed to crack his armor open and kill him, but his skeletal form continued to exist because he wasn't "aware" that he had died. Boyd was injured in the fight, and to destroy Rodstvow once and for all they had Coojeechiscue lift Boyd towards Rodstvow so that Dehman Doosha would come to his rescue and destroy Rodstvow. With the crisis past, Justice turned on Psi-Force.

(Justice#30) <10/5/88> - Justice faced Psi-Force on the psychic plane, blaming them because his daughter was injured in the fight between the Psi-Hawk and Rodstvow. He intended to kill them, but when Lindsey described him as "dead inside," he came to his senses and let them go.

(Psi-Force#31) <1/27/89> - Boyd had taken to wearing an eyepatch due to injuries he had suffered when Rodstvow burned him. The group was offered a place in the Medusa Web again, and they finally accepted, but Kathy chose to leave on a vacation to get away from all the violence. Babel had them engage in a training session against Potiphar, armed with a paint gun. Boyd was taken out by Potiphar, which caused Johnny to fly into a rage, but Boyd showed him he wasn't hurt to quiet him down. Babel then put them into intensive training for their first assignment: Afghanistan.

(Psi-Force#32) <5/13-14/89> - Now a well-honed team of professionals, Psi-Force parachuted into Afghanistan to destroy a Soviet base that was supplying to Iran. In the course of the assignment, they met Sedara Bakut, a teleporting paranormal member of the Mujahedin, and Tucker learned that the traitor in the Mujahedin was Sedara's own father, whom she killed. In the aftermath, Boyd tried teaching Johnny football, to no avail. When Johnny said his first words to Boyd: "L-love y-you!" Boyd exclaimed, "Oh, Stas...I hope you can see this..." Sedara joined Psi-Force, and teleported them to Switzerland for a vacation.

(Psi-Force#32 - text) <4/1/98> - Wayne gave an interview to Playboy magazine in which he referred to some of Psi-Force's missions, including "the incident at Los Alamos." Tucker reminisced about Boyd as the "adrenaline vampire" which was "cute thing callin' him that after what we learned."

Comments: Created by Danny Fingeroth, Mark Texeira, Brett Breeding and Al Milgrom.

Boyd received an OHOTMU-style biography in Psi-Force#23.

by Prime Eternal

CLARIFICATIONS:
Thomas Boyd should not be confused with:

• Professor Boyd, empowered Combo Man, @ Combo Man#1
• Christie Boyd, old friend of Alison Blaire, @ X-Men Unlimited I#32
• Tommie "Two-Fisted" Boyd, of the Yancy Street Gang, @ Fantastic Four I#361
• Dynorr the Stalker, alien invader, @ Sub-Mariner I#17
• Stalker, evil side of Gil Jeffers, @ Incredible Hulk II#335
• Stalker, stalked the Wasp, @ Marvel Comics Presents#48
• Stalker, stalked Spider-Woman, @ Marvel Comics Presents#166
• Stalker, stalked Mary Jane Parker, @ Peter Parker: Spider-Man II#10
• Stalker, sent by the Hunters to stop the Captive, @ Captain America Annual#3
• Stalker in the Night, Serpentyne, @ Rom I#8
• Stalker From the Stars, Xanja, @ Web of Spider-Man#25
• Stalkers, mercenaries taken over by aliens, @ Venom: Nights of Vengeance#1
• Stalkers, spirits of Olivier's realm, @ Punisher IV#3